Call for a ban on The Mosquito

8:28am Wednesday 13th February 2008

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The Children's Commissioner For England has joined civil liberties campaigners in a call for a ban on a device which disperses young people by emitting a high-pitched sound.

The gadget, known as the Mosquito and employed previously at the Wyvern Theatre and Guildford Avenue in Swindon, as well as at Sainsbury's in Calne, exploits young people's ability to hear very high frequencies, a power which declines once they reach their twenties.

Campaigners say an estimated 3,500 of the devices are in use in England to disperse children and young people in areas such as parks, shopping centres and around shops.

Launching the "Buzz Off" campaign, Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, pictured, said the devices were indiscriminate and created a divide between young and old.

"I have spoken to many children and young people from all over England who have been deeply affected by ultra-sonic teenage deterrents," he said.

"These devices are indiscriminate and target all children and young people, including babies, regardless of whether they are behaving or misbehaving."

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the human rights group Liberty, said: "Imagine the outcry if a device was introduced that caused blanket discomfort to people of one race or gender, rather than to our kids.

"The Mosquito has no place in a country that values its children and seeks to instil them with dignity and respect."

The Mosquito was invented by Howard Stapleton, from Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, and is manufactured by Compound Security Systems.

He said a test case in the courts might be the only way of establishing the Mosquito's legality.

"We tell shopkeepers to use it when they have a problem and I would be more than happy to introduce a contract which stipulates to shopkeepers how it can be used," he said.

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